KR20160078232A - Method and apparatus for energy harvest from a proximity coupling device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for energy harvest from a proximity coupling device (PCD) by a proximity integrated circuit card. In one embodiment, the PICC includes an integrated BLE. The BLE may be exclusively charged by the external magnetic field received from the PCD. The PCD may be configured to detect a time when the PICC is nearby and increase its duty cycle to thereby increase the magnetic field imposed on the PICC. The PICC may include a circuit to receive the magnetic field and convert the magnetic field to electric potential or voltage. The voltage may be stored at a capacitor for the usage of the BLE.

Description

[0001] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENERGY HARVEST FROM A PROXIMITY COUPLING DEVICE [0002]

The present invention relates to a method, apparatus and system for using a proximity coupling device for charging a proximity integrated chip card with an auxiliary communication platform.

A conventional proximity card is a type of smart card that can be read without inserting it into a reader device. Previous generations of identification cards have magnetic strips that require contact or insertion through a magnetic reader for reading. A new generation of smart or proximity cards can be held in the vicinity of an electronic reader or proximity coupling device (PCD) for an instant to read or exchange information. The reader typically generates a beep or other sound to indicate that the card has been read. Proximity cards typically have a read range of approximately 2 to 8 inches. Typical proximity cards include a 125 kHz (older version) device or a 13.56 MHz (new version) contactless smart card. Smart cards are either active or passive.

The card and the reader units communicate with each other through a radio frequency field and a resonant energy transfer process. The passive card has an integrated circuit (IC) comprising three components sealed in the plastic, an antenna consisting of a coil of wires, a capacitor and a user's ID number or other data. The reader unit has its own antenna that continuously transmits a short-range radio frequency magnetic field.

The passive card is charged by the reader device. When the card is placed within the range of the reader, the antenna coil and the capacitors forming the tuning circuit absorb and store energy from the field. The energy is then rectified to DC to power the IC. Since all energy to power the card comes from the reader unit, the passive card must come close to the reader to function. Thus, it has only a limited range. The active card is powered by a lithium battery. The IC of the active card includes a receiver that uses the power of the battery to amplify the signal from the reader unit, thus being able to detect the reader at a stronger, greater distance. The battery powers the signal transmission from the smart card.

These and other embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the following exemplary non-limiting examples, wherein like elements are represented by like reference numerals.
Figure 1 shows a polling cycle of a representative PCD device (i.e., a badge reader) measured with an oscilloscope.
Figure 2 is a block diagram of a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flow diagram of an adaptive PCD charging process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary bit mapping of an ATQ command in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exemplary flow chart for implementing an adaptive polling cycle in a PCD in communication with a PICC;

Specific examples are various devices and systems, for example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a sensor device, a Bluetooth (BT) device, Ultrabook (Ultrabook) ^TM, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a personal digital An on-vehicle device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, , A mobile or portable device, a consumer device, an on-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless access point (AP), a wired or wireless router, Video devices, audio devices, audio-video (AV) devices, wired or wireless networks, (WAN), a wireless local area network (LAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a personal area network (PAN), a wireless local area network (WPAN) ) And the like.

Some embodiments are based on existing telecommunications and information exchange-specific requirements between the IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard (IEEE 802.11-2012, the IEEE standard for information technology - system local area network and metropolitan area network) Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, March 29, 2012, IEEE 802.11 task group ac (TGac) (IEEE 802.11ad-2012, IEEE standard for information technology, marketed under the WiGig brand - systems - local area network and metropolitan area network -) and the TGac Channel Model Addendum Document Information exchange - Particular requirements - Part 11: Wireless LAN medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications - Amendment 3: Enhancement for ultra high throughput in 60 GHz band, December 28, 2012) and / Future versions of and / Or Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) peer-to-peer (P2P) specification (Wi-Fi P2P technical specifications, version 1.2, 2012) and / or Such as devices and / or networks that operate in accordance with their future versions and / or derivations, existing cellular specifications and / or protocols such as the 3GPP, 3GPP Long Term Evolution Evolution: LTE), and / or devices and / or networks operating in accordance with future versions and / or derivations thereof, devices operating in accordance with existing wireless HDTM specifications and / or future versions and / / RTI > and / or network, a unit and / or device that is part of the network, and the like.

Some embodiments may be implemented in connection with BT and / or Bluetooth low energy (BLE) standards. As briefly described, BT and BLE use short wave UHF radio waves in industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands (i.e., the 2400 to 2483.5 MHz band) to exchange data over short distances Is a wireless technology standard for BT establishes a private communication network (PAN) to connect the fixed device and the mobile device. Bluetooth uses frequency hopping spread spectrum. The transmitted data is divided into packets, and each packet is transmitted on one of 79 designated BT channels. Each channel has a bandwidth of 1 MHz. In a recently developed BT implementation, Bluetooth 4.0 uses a 2 MHz interval allowing 40 channels.

Some embodiments may include a one-way and / or two-way wireless communication system, a BT device, a BLE device, a cellular wireless-telephony system, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a wireless telephone, a Personal Communication Systems (PCS) device, (PDAs), mobile or portable Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, GPS receivers or transceivers, devices incorporating chips, devices incorporating RFID devices or chips, multiple input multiple output MIMO) transceiver or device, a single input multiple output (SIMO) transceiver or device, a multiple input single output (MISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal antennas and / , Digital Video Broadcast DVB) device or system, a multi-standard radio device or system, a wired or wireless handheld device such as a smart phone, a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, and the like. Some exemplary embodiments may be used with a WLAN. Other embodiments may be used with any other suitable wireless communication network, such as, for example, a wireless communication network, "piconet ", WPAN, WVAN,

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a PICC with an integrated auxiliary communication platform. In one embodiment, the auxiliary communication platform is a BLE radio. The PICC may be passive (operating without batteries) and may be configured for near-field communication. The BLE platform can be configured to send and receive regular beacon signals. The BLE can be configured to provide login assistance when in the vicinity of a secure device, for example by autonomously exchanging login credentials.

An exemplary PICC may collect energy from a proximity coupling device (PCD) such as a badge reader when the PICC is scanned (interchangeably, tagged) with respect to the PCD. Scanning can be done when the user scans the badge for access to the premises. The medium can store energy in the capacitor and sustain the power consumption of the BLE radios for user proximity presence and position detection for a period of time (e. G., The previous day). In one embodiment, the PCD is configured to recognize the presence of the PICC and to increase its polling cycle to effectively charge the PICC for a short scanning duration. In other embodiments, a near field radio (NFC) reader or other compatible magnetic field generating device (e.g., ISO 14443, 18002 or 15693 standard device) may be used as the energy source.

In another embodiment, the present invention integrates a PICC and a BLE radio such that the BLE radio is charged by the PCD. This can eliminate the need for an external battery. PICC can be used in different applications. For example, the PICC may be used to log in to the PC, configured to conserve power for the PC when inactive, or used to maintain PC settings or home / office automation.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method and system for collecting energy from a PCD device. Many offices are electronically secured and require swiping the badge to gain access to the premises. In certain embodiments, the energy delivered from the PCD is collected to sustain the power consumption of the BLE radio embedded in the PICC. Since the disclosed device does not require a battery, it is lightweight and portable. The disclosed embodiment has advantages over using conventional NFC radios because conventional NFC radios require an NFC reader to be installed on existing host computers and PCs.

Table 1 shows the results of feasibility studies related to embodiments of the present invention. Specifically, Table 1 shows representative BLE power consumption.

Table 1 shows that the current consumption for transmitting the BLE advertisement is about 3.1 x 10 < ^-6 > A. A conventional BLE device transmits a beacon signal every 5 seconds. Thus, the energy required to sustain an 8 hour charge for this BLE device is about 0.08928 J.

Figure 1 shows the polling cycle (interchangeably, duty cycle) of a representative PCD (i.e., the medium leader) measured with an oscilloscope. As shown in Figure 1, the polling cycle of the exemplary PCD is about 10%. In FIG. 1, a peak indicates a case where the magnetic field is ON, and a valley indicates a case where the generated magnetic field is OFF. Thus, Figure 1 shows the duty cycle of a conventional PCD.

Table 2 shows the energy collection results from the PCD. Specifically, the first column of Table 2 represents the number of turns (N) of the PICC antenna under study, the second column represents the maximum magnetic field (H), the third column represents the tag duration And the fourth column is the active period (i.e., the length of time that the energy is exchanged between the PICC and the PCD), the fifth column is the current for the chip with the class I PICC antenna The sixth column is the DC voltage collected, the seventh column is the collected power, and the eighth column is the energy collected during the tag duration.

The first row of Table 2 shows that when the PICC is tagged for about 64 msec, the energy activation period is about 6.2 msec. Based on these measurements, the collected energy is derived at 0.00655 J. In the second row of Table 2, the tag duration is extended to one second. The active energy collection period is about 0.096875 seconds, and the collected energy is about 0.01024 J. The third row of Table 2 shows that when the tag duration is increased to 2 seconds, the energy collected by the PICC is about 0.02048 J.

2 is a block diagram of a proximity integrated circuit (PICC) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention that may be implemented on a PICC device. The PICC 200 of FIG. 2 may include a media leader, and the user may scan the media to gain access to the building or office.

The PICC 200 may include a resonant circuit 210, a rectifier 220, a supercapacitor 230, a BLE 240, and a PICC processor 250. The resonant circuit 210 may include an antenna and a dedicated capacitor. In an exemplary embodiment, the resonant circuit can resonate at about 13.56 MHz. The resonant circuit 210 may also include a coil that absorbs energy from a PCD device (not shown). The exemplary PCD device may include a coil transmitter for emitting a magnetic field that can be picked up to excite the PICC 200. [ Rectifier 220 may be any rectifier configured to convert magnetic energy into voltage. The rectifier 220 may excite the supercapacitor 230 with sufficient energy (e.g., see Table 2) for consumption of the BLE radio. In one exemplary embodiment, the supercapacitor 230 may be selected to provide sufficient charge for power consumption of the BLE 240 for about eight hours. In an exemplary implementation, a 0.02 Farad capacitor was used. The capacitance was large enough to remove the backup battery from the PICC.

The BLE radio 240 may include a 2.4 GHz antenna and may be charged by the supercapacitor 230. The BLE 240 may be used for proximity detection to identify a nearby BLE device. The PICC processor 250 handles communication between the PICC and the PCD. A PICC processor may include processor circuitry either alone or in combination with software for such communications.

In one exemplary application, the PICC 200 may be used as a medium for entry into an office building or other secured premises. The medium may be scanned for a PCD configured to provide an increased duty cycle (interchangeably, a polling cycle) to charge the PICC 200 during the tag time. The resonant circuit 210 of the PICC 200 can detect and receive the magnetic field transmitted by the PCD (not shown). The energy from the magnetic field can be converted to a voltage by the rectifier 220. The converted energy may then be stored on the supercapacitor 230 to power the BLE 240.

In addition to charging the PICC 200, the PCD (not shown) can read the information transmitted by the PICC 200 for identification and security purposes. The information may be transmitted in a conventional manner. Alternatively, the information may be in the form of a BLE advertisement by the BLE 240. The BLE 240 includes a BLE radio.

In another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for providing an adaptive PCD polling cycle to collect sufficient energy to charge a BLE device. As described in connection with FIG. 1 and Table 1, conventional PCD emits a magnetic field during a tag period. The magnetic field and duty cycle of the PCD may be increased according to one embodiment of the present invention to improve the charging capability of the PCD.

3 is a flow diagram of an adaptive PCD charging process in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 begins at step 310 when the PICC is scanned (tagged) for the PCD. In step 310, the PCD identifies the PICC and in step 315 determines whether the PICC has a BLE device according to the disclosed embodiment. If the PICC device includes BLE, then in step 320, the PICC duty cycle is increased to allow charging of the BLE device.

In an alternative embodiment, the PCD may be configured to recognize the PICC and increase the duty cycle to accommodate different devices according to predefined parameters. For example, the PCD may be programmed to increase the duty cycle to 70% if the first group of devices is identified at step 310. [ Similarly, the PCD may be programmed to increase the duty cycle to 95% if the second group of devices is identified at step 310. [ Thus, the duty cycle can be increased as required by the PICC. To this end, the PCD may include one or more programmable modules (not shown) to accommodate known PICC databases and their correlated duty cycle demands.

At step 320, the duty cycle of the PCD is increased. As mentioned, the average tag time is about 2 seconds. Thus, the increased duty cycle must be configured to deliver the maximum magnetic field during this short exposure. At step 325, the PCD makes a determination of whether to continue charging the PICC with an increased duty cycle. The PCD may optionally detect the presence of the PICC. If the PICC is no longer present, the PCD may return to its normal duty cycle, If the PICC remains in the magnetic field of the PCD, a higher duty cycle may continue as shown in step 335. In an alternative embodiment, the PICC may be configured to reduce the duty cycle if the device remains after a predefined duration. The PCD may continue to monitor the presence of the PICC and repeat the cycle as indicated by the arrow 340.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the PICC communicates with the PCD through the exchange of messages. The PCD can send a request (REQ) to the PICC, and the PICC can respond with the answer of the request (ATQ). 4 illustrates an exemplary bitmapping of an ATQ command in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 4, bits 1 through 5 are anti-collision bits, bit 6 and bits 13 through 16 are reserved for future use (RFU) bits, bits 7 and 8 are user identifier (UID) ) Bits, and bits 9 through 12 are intrinsic coded bits. In an implementation, in an exemplary PICC card integrated with the BLE radio, bits 9 through 12 of the ATQ command may be programmed with a specific pattern (e.g., 1111). When the PCD device receives and detects an ATQ command with a predefined bit pattern for BLE sensor purposes, it can immediately set the polling duty cycle to a predefined percentage to increase the magnetic field energy.

5 illustrates an exemplary flow chart for implementing an adaptive polling cycle in a PCD in communication with a PICC. The process of FIG. 5 begins at step 510. The duty cycle can be set to a default value of about 10%. Once the PICC is tagged on the PCD device or proximity is detected, the PCD sends a request (REQ) command to the PICC (see step 515). At this time, the PICC can accommodate the benefit of the lower magnetic field. In step 520, the PCD receives an ATQ from the PICC. In step 525, the ATQ bits b9 to b12 are decoded. If a predefined pattern of bits 9 through 12 (e.g., 1111) is verified, the PCD polling cycle may be modified to 100% for a predefined duration, as shown in step 530. The increased polling cycle provides greater H-field energy. As a result, the collected energy may be increased to 0.1 joules when the medium is tagged for an additional 1-2 seconds. The collected energy can power the BLE device for 8 hours of operation. In an exemplary embodiment, the BLE beacon of the PICC device may be configured to be less active than the default beacon interval to conserve energy.

The steps shown in each of Figs. 3 and 5 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. In an exemplary embodiment, the steps of FIG. 5 may be implemented by a processor circuit stored in a memory circuit and communicating with a PCD. The processor and memory circuitry may each include additional hardware and software to provide the desired functionality. In another exemplary embodiment, the processor circuit may be programmed with logic for performing the steps shown in Figures 3 and 5. [ Other implementations of the disclosed principles are equally applicable.

The following are exemplary non-limiting examples of the present invention for illustrating various implementations of the invention. Example 1 is a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC), comprising: a resonant circuit for receiving magnetic energy from an external source; A rectifier for converting the magnetic energy received in the resonant circuit into voltage energy; A capacitor for receiving and storing voltage energy from the rectifier; And a BLE radio in electrical communication with the capacitor and powered by the voltage energy stored in the capacitor.

Example 2 relates to the PICC of Example 1 wherein the BLE radio is configured to be powered only by the voltage energy stored in the capacitor.

Example 3 relates to the PICC of Example 1 wherein the resonant circuit receives magnetic energy from a proximity coupling device (PCD).

Example 4 relates to the PICC of Example 3 further comprising a PICC processor for communicating with the PCD.

Example 5 relates to the PICC of Example 1 wherein the BLE is configured to communicate login information with an external device.

Example 6 is a tangible machine readable non-volatile storage medium, which when executed by one or more processors, discovers a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC) within the magnetic field range of a proximity coupling device (PCD); Identifying a PICC that is found to have a communications platform powered by the collected energy; Increasing the duty cycle of the PCD to expose the PICC to an increased magnetic field; And resuming the default duty cycle when the PICC is outside the range of the magnetic field of the PCD. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > [0002] < / RTI >

Example 7 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-volatile storage medium of Example 6 wherein the communication platform defines Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio.

Example 8 is a tangible machine readable non-volatile storage of Example 6, which includes sending a request (REQ) command to the PICC to find a PICC in the magnetic field range, and receiving an acknowledgment (ATQ) Media.

Example 9 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-volatile storage medium of Example 8, further comprising determining whether finding a PICC in the magnetic field range indicates a plurality of designated bits in the ATQ indicate an energy collection demand.

Example 10 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-volatile storage medium of Example 9, further comprising increasing the duty cycle of the magnetic field when the command indicates an energy collection request.

Example 11 relates to the tangible machine-readable non-volatile storage medium of Example 6, further comprising detecting movement of the PICC that is remote from the PCD.

Example 12 is a proximity coupling device (PCD) comprising one or more processors and circuits, the circuit comprising: first logic for finding a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC) within the magnetic field range of the proximity coupling device (PCD); A second logic that determines that the discovered PICC has a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio; And a third logic to increase the duty cycle of the PCD to expose the PICC to an increased magnetic field range and to resume the default duty cycle when the PICC is outside the magnetic field range of the PCD.

Example 13 relates to the PCD of Example 12 wherein the first logic discovers a PICC in the magnetic field by sending a request (REQ) command to the PICC and receiving an answer to the request (ATQ) from the PICC.

Example 14 relates to the PCD of Example 13 wherein the second logic determines whether a plurality of designated bits in the ATQ indicate BLE availability.

Example 15 relates to the PCD of Example 14 wherein the third logic increases the duty cycle of the magnetic field for a predetermined duration only if BLE is available.

Example 16 relates to the PCD of Example 15 wherein the first logic also detects movement of the PICC spaced from the PCD and causes the third logic to resume the default duty cycle.

While the principles of the invention have been illustrated in connection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein, the principles of the invention are not limited thereto and include any modifications, variations, or permutations thereof.

Claims (16)

As a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC)
A resonance circuit for receiving magnetic energy from an external source,
A rectifier for converting the magnetic energy received in the resonant circuit into voltage energy;
A capacitor for receiving and storing the voltage energy from the rectifier,
A Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio in electrical communication with the capacitor and powered by voltage energy stored in the capacitor
PICC.
The method according to claim 1,
The BLE radio is configured to be powered only by the voltage energy stored in the capacitor
PICC.
The method according to claim 1,
The resonant circuit is configured to receive magnetic energy from a proximity coupling device (PCD)
PICC.
The method of claim 3,
Further comprising a PICC processor in communication with the PCD
PICC.
The method according to claim 1,
The BLE radio is configured to communicate login information with an external device
PICC.
A tangible machine-readable non-volatile storage medium comprising instructions,
The instructions, when executed by one or more processors,
Finding a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC) within the magnetic field range of the proximity coupling device (PCD)
Identifying the discovered PICC as having a communications platform powered by the collected energy,
Increasing the duty cycle of the PCD to expose the PICC to an increased magnetic field,
Resuming the default duty cycle when the PICC is outside the magnetic field range of the PCD
Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 >
Machine readable storage medium.
The method according to claim 6,
The communication platform defines a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio
Machine readable storage medium.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein discovering the PICC in the magnetic field range further comprises sending a request (REQ) command to the PICC and receiving an answer to request (ATQ) from the PICC
Machine readable storage medium.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein finding the PICC in the magnetic field range further comprises determining whether a plurality of designated bits in the ATQ indicate an energy collection demand
Machine readable storage medium.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the instructions further comprise increasing the duty cycle of the magnetic field when the energy collection request is indicated
Machine readable storage medium.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the instructions further comprise detecting movement of the PICC spaced from the PCD
Machine readable storage medium.
1. A proximity coupling device (PCD) comprising one or more processors and circuits,
The circuit
A first logic for finding a proximity integrated circuit card (PICC) within the magnetic field range of the proximity coupling device (PCD)
A second logic for determining that the found PICC has a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio,
And third logic to increase the duty cycle of the PCD to expose the PICC to an increased magnetic field range and to resume a default duty cycle when the PICC is outside the magnetic field range of the PCD
PCD.
13. The method of claim 12,
The first logic locates the PICC in the magnetic field by sending a request (REQ) command to the PICC and receiving an acknowledgment (ATQ) for the request from the PICC
PCD.
14. The method of claim 13,
The second logic determines whether a plurality of designated bits in the ATQ indicate BLE availability
PCD.
15. The method of claim 14,
The third logic may increase the duty cycle of the magnetic field for a predetermined duration only if the BLE is available
PCD.
16. The method of claim 15,
The first logic also detects movement of the PICC away from the PCD and causes the third logic to cause the default duty cycle to be resumed
PCD.

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